Major League Draft

By Wikipedia

The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft is held every year in June by conference call among the 30 Major League clubs. The clubs take turns selecting players in reverse order of their won-loss records at the close of the previous regular season for 30 rounds. In 2005 and for the first time, the order of selection was without regard to league. The draft started in 1965.

Of the major sports drafts (i.e. professional basketball, baseball, football and hockey), the MLB Draft is the least followed by fans. The principle reasons for this are the draft's relative unreliability and its sheer size. Players who are picked early in the first round are not guaranteed to become stars or ever even suit up for the Major League team that drafts them, while players who are picked in the very late rounds can. The most notable example of this phenomenon is Mike Piazza, who was drafted in the 62nd round (see late round gems).

The Major League Baseball Official Rules govern which players are eligible for selection in the draft. These rules are detailed, but the basic eligibility criteria can be described as follows: Generally, a player is eligible for selection if the player is a resident of the United States or Canada and the player has never before signed a major league or minor league contract. Residents of Puerto Rico and other territories of the United States are eligible for the draft. Also considered residents are players who enroll in a high school or college in the United States, regardless of where they are from originally.

Certain groups of players are ineligible for selection, generally because they are still in school. The basic categories of players eligible to be drafted are:

• High school players, if they have graduated from high school and have not yet attended college or junior college;

• College players, from four-year colleges who have either completed their junior or senior years or are at least 21 years old; Junior college players, regardless of how many years of school they have completed; and

• 21-year-old players.

A club generally retains the rights to sign a selected player until one week prior to the next draft, or until the player enters, or returns to, a four-year college on a full-time basis. A selected player who enters a junior college cannot be signed until the conclusion of the school's baseball season. A player who is drafted and does not sign with the club that selected him may be drafted again at a future year's draft, so long as the player is eligible for that year's draft. A club may not select a player again in a subsequent year, unless the player has consented to the re-selection.

A player who is eligible to be selected and is passed over by every club becomes a free agent and may sign with any club, up until one week before the next draft, or until the player enters, or returns to, a four-year college full-time or enters, or returns to, a junior college. In the one-week period before any draft, which is called the "closed period," the general rule is that no club may sign a new player.

This description is a general one and the Major League Baseball Rules themselves, not this summary, govern eligibility issues. Players and coaches with questions about particular players are referred to the Baseball Operations Department at the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball.

Here are the #1 overall picks of each draft. Click on the year below to see the entire first round of that draft. We also have a list of players who skipped the minors after being drafted and late round gems.

 

Year	Player	Pos	Team	School	Signing Bonus
1965	Rick Monday	OF	Athletics	Arizona State University	$104,000
1966	Steve Chilcott	C	Mets	Lancaster, CA	$75,000
1967	Ron Blomberg	1B	Yankees	Atlanta, GA	$65,000
1968	Tim Foli	SS	Mets	Canoga Park, CA	$74,000
1969	Jeff Burroughs	OF	Senators	Long Beach, CA	$88,000
1970	Mike Ivie	C	Padres	Decatur, GA	$75,000
1971	Danny Goodwin	C	White Sox	Peoria, IL	(Didn't sign)
1972	Dave Roberts	3B	Padres	University of Oregon	$70,000
1973	David Clyde	LHP	Rangers	Houston, TX	$125,000
1974	Bill Almon	SS	Padres	Brown University	$90,000
1975	Danny Goodwin	C	Angels	Southern University	$125,000
1976	Floyd Bannister	LHP	Astros	Arizona State University	$100,000
1977	Harold Baines	OF	White Sox	St. Michaels, MD	$32,000
1978	Bob Horner	3B	White Sox	Arizona State University	$175,000
1979	Al Chambers	OF	Mariners	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	$60,000
1980	Darryl Strawberry	OF	Mets	Los Angeles, CA	$152,500
1981	Mike Moore	RHP	Mariners	Oral Roberts University	$100,000
1982	Shawon Dunston	SS	Cubs	Brooklyn, NY	$135,000
1983	Tim Belcher	RHP	Twins	Mt. Vernon Nazarene Col	(Didn't sign)
1984	Shawn Abner	OF	Mets	Mechanicsburg, PA	$150,000
1985	B.J. Surhoff	C	Brewers	University of North Carolina	$150,000
1986	Jeff King	3B	Pirates	University of Arkansas	$160,000
1987	Ken Griffey, Jr.	OF	Mariners	Cincinnati, OH	$169,000
1988	Andy Benes	RHP	Padres	University of Evansville	$235,000
1989	Ben McDonald	RHP	Orioles	Louisiana State University	$350,000
1990	Chipper Jones	SS	Braves	Pierson, Florida	$275,000
1991	Brien Taylor	LHP	Yankees	Beaufort, North Carolina	$1,550,000
1992	Phil Nevin	3B	Astros	Cal State Fullerton	$750,000
1993	Alex Rodriguez	SS	Mariners	Miami, Florida	$1,000,000
1994	Paul Wilson	RHP	Mets	Florida State University	$1,550,000
1995	Darin Erstad	OF	Angels	University of Nebraska	$1,575,000
1996	Kris Benson	RHP	Pirates	Clemson University	$2,000,000
1997	Matt Anderson	RHP	Tigers	Rice University	$2,500,000
1998	Pat Burrell	1B	Phillies	University of Miami	$3,015,000
1999	Josh Hamilton	OF	Devil Rays	Raleigh, North Carolina	$3,960,000
2000	Adrian Gonzalez	1B	Marlins	Chula Vista, California	$3,000,000
2001	Joe Mauer	C	Twins	St. Cretin-Derham Hall High School	$5,150,000
2002	Bryan Bullington	RHP	Pirates	Ball State University	$4,000,000
2003	Delmon Young	OF	Devil Rays	Camirillo High School, California	$3,700,000
2004	Matt Bush	SS	Padres	Mission Bay High School, El Cajon, California	$3,150,000
2005	Justin Upton	SS	Diamondbacks	Great Bridge High School, Chesapeake, Virginia	$6,100,000